The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has updated its Climate Resilience Strategy to better support climate change resilience and sustainable development efforts in its 19 Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs).

The Strategy, which covers the period 2019-2024, was approved by CDB’s Board of Directors on December 13, 2018. It focuses on enhanced and sustained adaptation actions to promote disaster risk reduction and poverty reduction.

CDB’s Director of Projects, Daniel Best, said the Bank is committed to supporting efforts by its BMCs to implement their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. NDCs are the targets that countries around the world are working to achieve, to stop global temperatures from rising 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

“As a consequence of climate-related disasters, our BMCs experienced an estimated USD27 billion in loss and damage during the period 2000-2017. Recurrent disasters undermine economic growth and contribute to high levels of debt accumulation, making progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals and the global Small Island Developing States agenda much harder to maintain,” Best said.

He added, “Through the new Climate Resilience Strategy, CDB will help countries deliver more robust climate solutions. It places greater emphasis on adopting sector-wide and multi-sectoral approaches in addressing the impacts of climate change. Furthermore, the Strategy proposes strategic sectoral assessments to support the design of climate-resilient policies, plans and governance frameworks, to deliver transformational investment interventions, in keeping with countries’ NDC priorities.”

When implemented, the Strategy is expected to enable the Bank to mobilise increased levels of concessionary resources for all BMCs; improve climate resilience in vulnerable sectors; strengthen the enabling environment to support resilient climate actions; and improve capacity within CDB for effective and efficient delivery of climate solutions.

The Climate Resilience Strategy 2019-2024 builds on the progress achieved and the lessons learned from the 2012-2017 Strategy.